Petrino’s affinity for Aggies-Razorbacks series is twofold

Coach Mike Sherman meets the media this week leading up to the Arkansas game in the above video
— Brent Zwerneman

COLLEGE STATION – Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino figures now he’s got two reasons to be excited about the Razorbacks’ newfound affiliations with Texas A&M.

The first came four years ago when the two sides agreed to play each other in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington in a 10-year series, in a revival of an old Southwest Conference showdown.

“The more exposure we can get in the state of Texas, and the more our (Texas) players can come home and play in Dallas’s stadium every year, the better the opportunity we have to get young men (from Texas) to come to our school,” Petrino said this week. “This game just increases our exposure in the entire state.”

So does the news of earlier this week – that A&M will officially join the Southeastern Conference starting next year – Petrino’s second reason to be energized about Aggies-Razorbacks.

“We’re excited about A&M coming into our conference – we think that’s a great deal for our conference and for us here at the University of Arkansas,” he said. “It will certainly help our exposure and our recruiting in the state of Texas.”

What would help the Aggies right now is a victory over Arkansas. The Razorbacks have won the first two installments of the Southwest Classic, with the third set for 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN.

Both sides have said they’d like to see the future SEC matchup continue to be played in Cowboys Stadium (at least for now) – but that’s a decision that will be determined in the coming months.